Down the Frozen River

Tag: Jonathan Dahlen

  • San Jose Sharks 2021-22 Season Preview

    San Jose Sharks 2021-22 Season Preview

    2020-21 record 21-28-7, 49 points

    7th in the Honda NHL West Division

    Missed the postseason for the second-straight year

    Additions: F Nick Bonino, F Andrew Cogliano, F Nick Merkley (acquired from NJD), F Lane Pederson, D Jaycob Megna, G Adin Hill (acquired from ARI), G James Reimer

    Subtractions: F Kurtis Gabriel (signed with TOR), F Fredrik Händemark (KHL), F Maxim Letunov (signed with CAR), F Marcus Sörensen (SHL), F Alex True (expansion, SEA), D Christian Jaros (traded to NJD), D Greg Pateryn (signed with ANA), G Martin Jones (buyout), G Josef Korenar (traded to ARI)

    Still Unsigned: F Ryan Donato, F Noah Gregor (RFA), F Patrick Marleau

    Re-signed: F Rüdolfs Balcers, F Joachim Blichfeld, F Jonathan Dahlén, F Dylan Gambrell, F Matt Nieto, F Jeffrey Viel, D Nicolas Meloche

    Offseason Analysis: The Sharks have been quiet– too quiet– this offseason for a team that proclaims they’re “definitely not rebuilding” and “totally going to be back in the playoffs in 2022”.

    Whether you buy into the speculation that Tomas Hertl is going to be shopped by the team or not, there is some uneasiness in the dressing room as Evander Kane’s bankruptcy court ongoings continue to unfurl in public amidst separation from his wife while San Jose is tight against the salary cap with about $3.361 million in cap space heading into the 2021-22 season.

    Erik Karlsson’s made it known that he doesn’t want to experience another rebuild in his career– having been dealt to the Sharks originally as a casualty of the Ottawa Senators’ demise and subsequent retool/rebuild.

    It’s not hard to feel empathy for the precarious position that Doug Wilson is in as General Manager, though it’s through much of his own doing.

    For starters, Karlsson carries an $11.500 million cap hit through the 2026-27 season, which contributed to Joe Pavelski leaving for the Dallas Stars via free agency on July 1, 2019, and with it San Jose’s character amongst the Sharks’ leadership core.

    Kane carries a $7.000 million cap hit through 2024-25, though he may reach a termination agreement at any point in time with San Jose to restructure his debt and may or may not end up signing for much less as a result with the Sharks if he isn’t forced to take a step back from hockey to focus on that whole debt thing that keeps getting mentioned.

    Seriously, we’re hoping for the best here.

    Forced to make minor moves due to a stagnant salary cap, Wilson signed Matt Nieto to a two-year extension worth $850,000 per season and continued to fill out his middle of the lineup/bottom-six forwards with Andrew Cogliano and Nick Bonino via free agency.

    Cogliano received a one-year, $1.000 million deal, while Bonino earned a two-year contract that carries a $2.050 million cap hit.

    Nieto recorded three consecutive seasons of 20 or more points with the Colorado Avalanche from 2017-18 through 2019-20 as he experienced a career resurgence as a bottom-six forward, prior to amassing 5-2–7 totals in 28 games last season with San Jose before a lower body injury cut his 2020-21 season short.

    After spending the last few seasons in Dallas, Cogliano left the Stars for the Sharks in free agency after managing 11 points (five goals, six assists) in 54 games last season.

    At this point, the 34-year-old center is just trying to hold onto what is likely the twilight of his career and looking for a way to either spice up his remaining playing days and extend his tenure in the league or find a way to be moved by the trade deadline to a Cup contender as the 14-year NHL veteran has only been to one Stanley Cup Final in his career thus far– losing in six games with Dallas to the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2020.

    Bonino, on the other hand, brings some Cup winning experience to San Jose’s dressing room as the 33-year-old center won his first of two Cup rings with the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games against the Sharks in the 2016 Stanley Cup Final.

    After winning back-to-back Cups in 2016 and 2017, with Pittsburgh, Bonino made his way to the Nashville Predators and, most recently, the Minnesota Wild, where he had 10-16–26 totals in 55 games while the Wild rose to prominence and endured a seven-game First Round series loss to the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

    Bonino may be at the point where he bounces around the league every other season or so, but he’s shown that he can still prove to be a valuable piece down the middle as a glue guy, which is welcome news for San Jose as they look for Logan Couture and Hertl to remain steady as a 1-2 punch at center on the first and second lines.

    Drafting William Eklund 7th overall in the 2021 NHL Draft, then signing him to a three-year entry-level contract was another quality move made by Wilson in the ongoing restructuring of the organization’s depth and future foundation.

    Ranked as the No. 1 European skater by NHL Central Scouting, Eklund fell to the Sharks in the draft and could end up playing this season for San Jose. Sure it might be throwing him to the fire a bit early, but if he’s as good as he looked with Djurgårdens IF, then it’s worth it to spur the *ahem* rebuild in San Jose as he managed to have 11-12–23 totals in 40 games in the SHL last season.

    But the biggest change this offseason for the Sharks comes in the crease, where San Jose has bought out Martin Jones– freeing themselves from his 15-13-4 record in 34 games last season, with a 3.28 goals-against average, an .896 save percentage and one shutout in that span– and traded for Adin Hill before signing Hill to an extension and landing James Reimer in free agency.

    Jones will carry a $1.917 million buyout penalty on San Jose’s cap through the 2026-27 season, but at least he’s the Philadelphia Flyers’ reclamation project now.

    In the meantime, Hill was acquired in exchange for Josef Korenar and a 2022 2nd round pick back on July 17th.

    The 25-year-old former Arizona Coyotes goaltender was given a two-year extension worth $2.175 million per season and went 9-9-1 in 19 games last season, recording a 2.74 goals-against average, a .913 save percentage and two shutouts in that span.

    It’s important to note that he had a 2.62 goals-against average and a .918 save percentage in 13 games in 2019-20 with the Coyotes and has shown that, perhaps, in a better defensive situation, he just might improve.

    Meanwhile, Reimer reunites with the Sharks for the first time since San Jose’s 2016 Stanley Cup Final appearance as he was acquired by the team on Feb. 28, 2016, with Jeremy Morin for a 2018 3rd round pick, Ben Smith and Alex Stalock in return to the Toronto Maple Leafs back in the day.

    Since then, Reimer had a stop with the Florida Panthers and, most recently, with the Carolina Hurricanes as a tandem duo with Petr Mrazek.

    The 33-year-old goaltender might have an edge going into the season over Hill as Reimer managed to record a 15-5-2 record in 22 games last season for Carolina and had a 2.66 goals-against average, as well as a .906 save percentage in that span.

    He signed a two-year deal worth $2.250 million per season with the Sharks on July 28th.

    In both cases, it’s a low-risk, high-reward move that Wilson can defend simply as a placeholder if it all goes south while searching for a long-term solution in net.

    Offseason Grade: C-

    It’s time for the Sharks to make some serious roster decisions in a proactive manner instead of forcing their own hands tied and reacting to the alarming situation that may only worsen as the team desperately tries to avoid using the term “rebuild”.

    San Jose’s unprecedented success in the regular season throughout the 2000s and 2010s meant that the team never really had to rely on the uncertainty of going through growing pains and struggles, but for the first time since franchise’s infancy it appears that it’s inevitable once more.

    Whether removing Wilson is something to be done sooner rather than later or not hinges upon whether or not Sharks ownership is informed of a solidified plan.

    There cannot be any wavering any longer for a team that, sure, finished ahead of the Anaheim Ducks last season, but is expected to bottom out in the Pacific Division by virtually every expert and analyst on paper going into 2021-22– and that’s even with the uncertain nature of the expansion, Seattle Kraken, to consider.

    San Jose is close to getting a “D+”, but cutting their losses and buying out Jones now brings them up to a “C-“.

  • DTFR Podcast #147- Trade The Whole Team

    DTFR Podcast #147- Trade The Whole Team

    It’s the DTFR 2019 Trade Deadline recap! Plus a few other notes from the last week around the NHL.

    Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts (iTunes), Stitcher and/or on Spotify. Support the show on Patreon.

  • 2019 NHL Trade Deadline Recap

    Below is a quick recap of all the trades that officially occurred on Monday prior to the National Hockey League’s 3 p.m. ET trade deadline.

    Early Monday morning the San Jose Sharks acquired F Gustav Nyquist from the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for a 2019 2nd round pick and a conditional 2020 3rd round pick. The 2020 3rd round pick becomes a 2nd round pick if the Sharks reach the Stanley Cup Final or Nyquist re-signs.

    Detroit retained 30% of Nyquist’s salary in the transaction. MORE

    The Anaheim Ducks completed a minor swap with the Ottawa Senators exchanging F Brian Gibbons for D Patrick Sieloff.

    G Keith Kinkaid was traded by the New Jersey Devils to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for a 2022 5th round pick. MORE

    The New York Rangers sent F Kevin Hayes to the Winnipeg Jets in exchange for F Brendan Lemieux, a 2019 1st round pick and a conditional 2022 4th round pick.

    Winnipeg’s 2019 1st round pick in the trade is Top-3 lottery protected. MORE

    The Montreal Canadiens sent F Michael Chaput to the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for F Jordan Weal.

    The Florida Panthers traded F Tomas Jurco to the Carolina Hurricanes for future considerations.

    F Cliff Pu was traded by the Carolina Hurricanes to the Florida Panthers for future considerations.

    F Derick Brassard was traded by the Florida Panthers along with a conditional 2020 6th round pick to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for a 2020 3rd round pick.

    If Brassard re-signs with the Avalanche, Colorado will not receive Florida’s 6th round pick. MORE

    The New York Rangers traded D Adam McQuaid to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for D Julius Bergman, a 2019 4th round pick and a 2019 7th round pick. MORE

    The Calgary Flames acquired D Oscar Fantenberg from the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for a conditional 2020 4th round pick.

    F Mikael Granlund was traded by the Minnesota Wild to the Nashville Predators in exchange for F Kevin Fiala.

    F Mark Stone and F Tobias Lindberg were traded by the Ottawa Senators to the Vegas Golden Knights for D Erik Brannstrom, F Oscar Lindberg and a 2020 2nd round pick (originally belonging to DAL).

    Stone has agreed on an eight-year extension with Vegas worth $9.500 million per season, but cannot sign it until March 1st. MORE

    The Nashville Predators acquired F Wayne Simmonds from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for F Ryan Hartman and a conditional 2020 4th round draft pick.

    If Nashville wins one round of the playoffs, the pick becomes a 2020 3rd round pick.

    D Michael Del Zotto was traded to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for a 2019 6th round draft pick in return to the Anaheim Ducks.

    F Marcus Johansson was shipped from the New Jersey Devils to the Boston Bruins in exchange for a 2019 2nd round pick and a 2020 4th round pick. New Jersey retained 40% of Johansson’s salary in the trade.

    The Winnipeg Jets traded a 2020 7th round pick to the Minnesota Wild for F Matt Hendricks.

    The Pittsburgh Penguins acquired D Erik Gudbranson from the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for F Tanner Pearson.

    D Nathan Beaulieu was traded by the Buffalo Sabres to the Winnipeg Jets for a 6th round pick.

    Winnipeg also traded a 2021 7th round pick to the Florida Panthers for D Bogdan Kiselevich.

    The San Jose Sharks sent F Linus Karlsson to the Vancouver Canucks for F Jonathan Dahlen.

    In their sixth trade of the day, the Winnipeg Jets traded F Nic Petan to the Toronto Maple Leafs for F Par Lindholm.

    The Florida Panthers traded D Chris Wideman to the Pittsburgh Penguins for F Jean-Sebastien Dea.

    F Alex Broadhurst was traded by the Columbus Blue Jackets to the Nashville Predators for future considerations.

  • Vancouver Canucks 2018-19 Season Preview

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    Vancouver Canucks

    31-40-11, 73 points, 7th in the Pacific Division

    Additions: F Jay Beagle, F Tanner Kero (acquired from CHI), F Antoine Roussel, F Tim Schaller

    Subtractions: F Cole Cassels (signed, DEL), F Michael Chaput (traded to CHI, signed with MTL), F Nic Dowd (signed with WSH), F Joseph LaBate (signed with Belleville Senators, AHL), F Jayson Megna (signed with WSH), F Griffen Molino (signed with Toronto Marlies, AHL), F Daniel Sedin (retired), F Henrik Sedin (retired), D Patrick Wiercioch (signed, KHL)

    Still Unsigned: D Anton Cederholm, F Jussi Jokinen, D MacKenze Stewart

    Re-signed: F Darren Archibald, F Sven Baertschi, D Troy Stecher, F Jake Virtanen

    Offseason Analysis: We all knew this day would come, but didn’t want the telepathy to end. Yes, both Daniel and Henrik Sedin retired at the end of the 2017-18 regular season, leaving the Vancouver Canucks with an identity crisis– well, almost.

    The face(s) of the franchise shifts full-time to the likes of Bo Horvat, Brock Boeser and Jake Virtanen while the rest of the roster, umm, does stuff on the ice.

    Does Jim Benning know the definition of a rebuild?

    The Canucks General Manager signed veteran forwards Jay Beagle and Antoine Roussel to matching four-year, $12 million contracts (worth $3.000 million per season). Beagle, 32, and Roussel, 28, are not top-six forwards. One’s past his prime, despite winning the Cup with the Washington Capitals last season and the other, well, $3.000 million a year for not just one fourth liner but two is the definition of insanity.

    Doing the same thing and expecting different results, Benning keeps patching a non-playoff contender with grizzled veterans on long-term contracts.

    It’s one thing to fill some roster holes with veteran players while you rebuild in the short term, but four-year deals? Four-years!?! Especially when this seems to be a trend up and down the lineup since losing to the Boston Bruins in the 2011 Stanley Cup Final.

    That should be enough to convince Vancouver’s ownership group (Canucks Sports & Entertainment) that they should hit the reset button on their current front office.

    One good signing– and the only good signing– made by Benning at improving the Canucks bottom-six depth was the addition of former Buffalo Sabre and Boston Bruin, Tim Schaller.

    Schaller’s respectable two-year deal at $1.900 million per season is right about what you would expect to pay a top-notch fourth liner that can play third line minutes when called upon.

    His 22 points in 82 games with Boston last season matched Beagle’s output in 79 games with the Capitals and was five-points better than Roussel’s 5-12–17 totals in 73 games for the Dallas Stars in 2017-18.

    Schaller’s cap hit is a little more than half of Beagle and Roussel’s.

    Goaltending continues to be an issue for Vancouver since trading Cory Schneider and Roberto Luongo one year apart from one another.

    Thatcher Demko isn’t ready for a full-time NHL role yet– either in the starting capacity or as a backup netminder. Anders Nilsson had his worst season as a backup in his first year as a Canuck, amassing a 3.44 goals against average and .901 save percentage in 27 games played.

    Meanwhile, subpar starting goalie, Jacob Markstrom worsened from 2016-17 to 2017-18 in GAA (going from a 2.63 to a 2.71), but improved in SV% (.910 in 2016-17 to a .912 in 2017-18)– all while making the jump from being a backup himself in 2016-17 (playing in 26 games) to being Vancouver’s starter in 2017-18 (and playing in 60 games).

    There’s hope to be had in 2018-19, however, in standout prospects Elias Pettersson and Jonathan Dahlen. Both should make the Canucks NHL roster and be implemented in the lineup for added flair, coupled with the Horvat, Boeser and Virtanen regime that’s now in full swing.

    Despite the rumblings of a young core, Vancouver’s still in a tough spot given the strength of the Pacific Division.

    The San Jose Sharks look to be a Cup contender on paper, Los Angeles is seeking one last chance at completing a trifecta this decade and Anaheim rounds out the annual California hockey powerhouse.

    Meanwhile the Vegas Golden Knights certainly aren’t slowing down.

    Between the Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames and Vancouver– anything can happen. Edmonton should be better than they were last season, but should and in reality are separate things. Calgary, despite their revamped roster, has Bill Peters behind the bench (enough said).

    So if the Canucks are looking to make any ground from 2018-19 to 2019-20, it very well might be on their Pacific Division Canadian counterparts.

    What about the Arizona Coyotes, you ask?

    They won’t be in last place in the division this season, so Vancouver better watch out. Unless, of course, Benning and Co. are starting to come around to the idea of tanking for a high-end 2019 1st round pick. That’d probably do them a lot of favors.

    Offseason Grade: D

    It’s hard to track progress when you let yourself get in the way of whatever you’ve got going. I don’t know what that means other than trying to say that the Canucks should continue to pursue a youth movement, decent depth signings (like Schaller) and abandon all hope on– oh wait, they signed Beagle and Roussel to matching four-year contracts.

    Never mind.

    If The Hockey Guy sees this by any chance– ‘sup. Let’s be friends, friend.

  • 2018 Offseason Preview: Vancouver Canucks

    It’s the third day of our 2018 offseason previews for all 31 National Hockey League teams and today kicks off with the Vancouver Canucks.

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    Nobody expected the Vancouver Canucks to be a mid-pack team in 2017-18 and well, what do you know, they weren’t. The Canucks finished 7th in the Pacific Division this season with a 31-40-11 record and 73 points on the season.

    Vancouver was second-to-last in Western Conference standings, behind the Chicago Blackhawks by three points in the standings and just ahead of the Arizona Coyotes.

    Chicago was the only team in the Central Division to not reach the 90-point plateau, while Vancouver was one of three teams in the Pacific Division to amass less than 80 points on the season.

    Yes, Brock Boeser— the 2018 NHL All-Star Game MVP– emerged as a rookie sniper, but the faces of the franchise in Daniel and Henrik Sedin retired after almost 20 years in the NHL.

    Other than that, Vancouver still has two fringe starter/backup goaltenders, 32-year-old Loui Eriksson under contract with a cap hit of $6.000 million through the 2021-22 season and a lack of apparent depth throughout the lineup.

    At least Bo Horvat is part of the core and the team has gotten younger (due, in part, to the Sedin’s retiring).

    2018 NHL Entry Draft

    There’s no reason to sound all doom-and-gloom regarding the Canucks, because they’ve managed to establish a small pool of productive prospects in Thatcher Demko, Michael DiPietro, Olli Juolevi, Elias Pettersson and Jonathan Dahlén.

    Another down year can be expected, but there’s plenty of room to grow and turn a lot of heads in 2018-19.

    Thankfully, in the deep draft that is the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, Vancouver won’t miss out on a decent top-10 prospect with the 7th overall pick as long as General Manager Jim Benning doesn’t mess things up.

    It only makes sense that Benning goes with the best available player by the time the Canucks are on the clock– whether it’s (not listed in any particular order) Brady Tkachuk, Oliver Wahlstrom, Evan Bouchard, Quintin Hughes, Adam Boqvist, Rasmus Kupari or Joel Farabee– since there’s no immediate need on the NHL roster that can be filled by a player in this year’s draft.

    Pending free agents

    What it all comes down to for Vancouver is sticking to the plan. Now is the time to implement more youth with the likes of Demko, Juolevi, Pettersson and Dahlén in expanded or new roles altogether on the NHL club.

    However, Demko’s path to stealing a job in net for the Canucks is currently crowded by Jacob Markstrom and Anders Nilsson as 1A and 1B solutions to the fact that Vancouver does not have a true number one, starting goaltender.

    Markstrom, 28, has two-years remaining on his current contract with a $3.667 million cap hit. That’s a friendly value for any team that’s looking for a temporary placeholder in net as a low-cost, potentially high-reward, starting goaltender– as long as that team has a defense to limit shots against.

    Nilsson, 28, has one-year left on his contract and a $2.500 million cap hit. Again, also a bargain in the grand scheme of things, where top-notch goaltenders run organizations around $7.000 million in cap space.

    Both are in their goaltending prime, which is different from a skater’s prime in that it’s usually delayed in comparison by a few years, but neither Markstrom nor Nilsson have shown they are going to get better than their 2.71 and 3.44 goals against averages in 60 and 27 games played, respectively.

    That’s not just a case of a bad defense.

    Average is still average and below average is still below average. For the Canucks to get better, they almost have to get worse, which sounds horrible to diehard fans, but might not actually be that bad.

    Sure, Demko doesn’t have the level of experience that Markstrom and Nilsson have, but for a team that’s truly committed to a rebuild, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to let him get more playing time to help bring his NHL game up to speed.

    Aside from goaltending, Vancouver has six pending free agent forwards to assess. Three of them (Jussi Jokinen, Nic Dowd and Darren Archibald) are pending-unrestricted free agents and three of them are pending-restricted free agents (Jake Virtanen, Markus Granlund and Sven Baertschi).

    Of their pending-UFA forwards, Dowd should get a callback, while the priority remains on re-signing the 21-year-old Virtanent and 25-year-old Granlund this summer.

    Baertschi has only passed the 30-point plateau once in his career, but fills a role as a third line forward that the Canucks desperately need. Anything more than a bridge deal for the 25-year-old forward could come back to bite the organization if his offense doesn’t improve.

    Finally, the Canucks have a pair of pending-RFA defenders to re-sign this offseason in 24-year-olds Derrick Pouliot and Troy Stecher.

    Once expected to change the course of Pittsburgh’s blueline, Pouliot was the 8th overall selection in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft and only just played his first full NHL season with Vancouver in 2017-18. Plus/minus aside (he was a minus-22 in 71 games played), Pouliot is worthy of keeping around, so long as Erik Gudbranson is considered expendable.

    Stecher, on the other hand, has shown signs of being a puck-moving defender with flashes of a decent transition game, but had 1-10–11 totals in 68 games played as part of a sophomore slump.

    While the Canucks may have higher expectations for Stecher, given his homegrown development, Pouliot outplayed his teammate with double the production (22 points).

    If Vancouver is serious about moving Gudbranson and convinces Alexander Edler to waive his no-trade-clause for a transaction, then both Pouliot and Stecher have bigger roles and a proving ground to make the most of what should be bridge contract extensions.

    The Canucks have a little more than $22 million to work with in cap space this summer.

    Other pending free agents throughout the organization include:

    Joseph Labate (UFA), Anton Cederholm (RFA), Cole Cassels (RFA), Griffen Molino (RFA), MacKenze Stewart (RFA), Patrick Wiercioch (UFA), Jayson Megna (UFA), Richard Bachman (UFA), Reid Boucher (RFA), Michael Chaput (RFA)

  • NHL Trades Since January 1st, 2017

    NHL Trades Since January 1st, 2017

    As usual, here’s our annual recap of all of the trades made in the NHL since the change of the calendar year. For anything prior to January 1, 2017, check out NHL.com’s official Trade Tracker (as I’m sure we all will be saving that as our homepage and refreshing it every few minutes from now until the deadline).

    This year’s trade deadline is Wednesday, March 1, 2017. All trade calls must be made by 3:00 PM EST on Monday in order for any deal to potentially go through.

    This post will be updated as frequently as possible leading up to March 1st.

    The Toronto Maple Leafs kicked things off in the year of our current era two-thousand-seventeen by trading G Jhonas Enroth to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for a 2018 7th round pick on January 11th.

    Longtime member of the Colorado Avalanche, F Cody McLeod was traded to the Nashville Predators on January 13th. The Av’s acquired F Felix Girard in return.

    January 21st witnessed the trade between the Los Angeles Kings and the Chicago Blackhawks in which F Michael Latta swapped LA living for the Windy City. D Cameron Schilling was pretty psyched for sunny skies and California weather, as he was sent in return from Chicago to the Kings.

    The Ottawa Senators made a splash with the acquisition of F Tommy Wingels from the San Jose Sharks on January 24th in exchange for F Buddy Robinson, F Zach Stortini and a 2017 7th round pick.

    D Nikita Nesterov was sent to the Tampa Bay Lightning by the Montreal Canadiens on January 26th. D Jonathan Racine and a 2017 6th round pick were sent to the Habs in return.

    36-year-old F Vernon Fiddler was traded to the New Jersey Devils on February 4th. New Jersey sent the Nashville Predators a 2017 4th round pick in return.

    D Tom Gilbert was traded by the Los Angeles Kings to the Washington Capitals for future considerations on February 15th.

    The New Jersey Devils kept themselves busy two weeks after acquiring Fiddler from Nashville and traded F Sergey Kalinin to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for D Viktor Loov on February 18th.

    February 20th was a busy day for John Chayka and the Arizona Coyotes as the 27-year-old general manager sent D Michael Stone to the Calgary Flames in exchange for a 2017 3rd round pick and a conditional 2018 5th round pick.

    The Carolina Hurricanes and the Montreal Canadiens swapped minor league defensemen on February 21st. D Keegan Lowe went from the Hurricanes organization to the Canadiens as D Philip Samuelsson did the reverse (MTL –> CAR).

    On February 23rd, the Carolina Hurricanes made their second trade in three days and sent D Ron Hainsey to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Carolina acquired F Danny Kristo and a 2017 2nd round pick in the transaction.

    Two trades were completed on February 24th, with the first transaction involving the Dallas Stars and the Anaheim Ducks. The Stars swapped F Patrick Eaves with Anaheim for a conditional 2017 2nd round pick.

    In the second trade of the day, the Detroit Red Wings sent F Tomas Jurco to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for a 2017 3rd round pick.

    The Tampa Bay Lightning acquired F Stefan Fournier from the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for F Jeremy Morin on February 25th.

    G Ben Bishop and a 2017 5th round pick were traded by the Tampa Bay Lightning to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for G Peter Budaj, D Erik Cernak, a 2017 7th round pick and a conditional 2017 draft pick on February 26th.

    Also on February 26th, F Martin Hanzal, F Ryan White and a 2017 4th round pick, were traded by the Arizona Coyotes to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for a 2017 1st round pick, a 2018 2nd round pick, a 2019 conditional 4th round pick and F Grayson Downing.

    On Monday, February 27th, the Arizona Coyotes acquired F Teemu Pulkkinen from the  Minnesota Wild in exchange for future considerations.

    The Tampa Bay Lightning traded F Brian Boyle to the Toronto Maple Leafs and received F Byron Froese and a 2017 2nd round pick in return.

    The Dallas Stars were also active on February 27th, having acquired D Greg Pateryn and a 2017 4th round pick from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for D Jordie Benn.

    Longtime member of the Vancouver Canucks, F Alex Burrows, was traded to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for F Jonathan Dahlen. The Senators, by the way, immediately signed Burrows to a two-year extension.

    Late Monday night the St. Louis Blues traded D Kevin Shattenkirk and G Pheonix Copley to the Washington Capitals in exchange for F Brad Malone, F Zach Sanford, a 2017 1st round pick and a conditional 2019 2nd round pick. St. Louis retained 39% of Shattenkirk’s salary in the deal. Hire a lawyer to walk you through the conditions on the draft pick, if you’re curious.

    The dump-and-rebuild process in Detroit seems to have officially begun, as the Red Wings have traded D Brendan Smith to the New York Rangers Tuesday for two draft picks: New York’s 2017 third round pick and their 2018 second round pick. This season is Smith’s fourth playing full time in the NHL, but he’s only appeared in 33 games so far this year. He’s on the last year of his contract, but he’s indicated to the Red Wings in the past that he’d prefer to avoid free agency. Perchance New York will become a new long-term home.

    Tuesday’s second trade involved the Ottawa Senators and Carolina Hurricanes. Now-former Cane F Viktor Stalberg was sent to the Canadian capital in exchange for Ottawa’s 2017 third round pick. Stalberg signed a one-year deal with Carolina in 2016 and is currently slated to become a free agent in July.

    With approximately 24 hours remaining before the deadline, the Buffalo Sabres and New York Rangers swapped F Daniel Catenacci and D Mat Bodie, respectively. A third-rounder in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, Catenacci joins the Blueshirts with 11 games of NHL experience, though he has not yet received a call up this season. In return, the Sabres received Bodie, the now-former captain of the Rangers’ AHL affiliate. Yet to play an NHL game, he’s registered 30 points this season with the Wolf Pack – the 12th-most by an AHL defenseman.

    It seems the time for big-name defensemen to be traded is during the evening, as the Dallas Stars traded D Johnny Oduya to the Chicago Blackhawks. In return, the Stars received F Mark McNeill and a conditional fourth round pick in 2018. Oduya returns to the Hawks after a two-year stint in Dallas, and he’ll be an unrestricted free agent at the completion of this season. Drafted 18th-overall in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, McNeill has only one NHL game to show for his short career.

    Tuesday night, the Montréal Canadiens shipped F David Desharnais to the Edmonton Oilers, and received D Brandon Davidson in return. Desharnais provides 38 games of Stanley Cup playoff experience to the young Oilers on the final year of his four-year contract, while Davidson is a blueline presence that is near ready for the big leagues – if he’s not there already – and has one more year on his $2.85 million contract before he becomes a restricted free agent.